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| New England Music Scrapbook News |
| September 25, 2004 Number 84 |
| Web Version |
Post-Last-Minute News
The best piece I've seen so far about the new/old Brian Wilson album, Smile, was contributed to Tuesday's Boston Herald by Larry Katz.
Boston Herald record review
Highly recommended.
With any luck, the Boston Globe's Steve Morse will chime in, perhaps in his "Rock Notes" column or in a concert preview. Wilson and band play the Orpheum in Boston on October 14.
Evidently there was a substantial piece by Geoff Edgers about Smile in Sunday's Globe, but there was no link to it in the Living/Arts table of contents early Sunday morning when I read the paper. All I saw was a worthwhile but not really great notice by Joan Anderman. So having not yet read the Geoff Edgers feature, all I can do at the moment is post a link to it.
Geoff Edgers Boston Globe feature about "Smile"
By coincidence, I just finished taking notes for a book review and switched back to a collection of 1960s Crawdaddy articles written by Paul Williams. And I found myself reading his take on Smile and reading about his disappointment with Smiley Smile, the album which was released in place of the expected masterwork. Great stuff.
If you're interested in the Boston rock band, Heavy Stud, you may want to look through a Jonathan Perry feature about the Muffs in Saturday's Boston Globe. Perry interviewed Heavy Stud singer/guitarist Meredith Byam for his article. Quotes from her about the Muffs' Blonder and Blonder album appear just before and just after the page break. (Natch)
Boston Globe feature
We have received a query about the recordings of the 1980s Boston band, The Prime Movers, though it's not handy at the moment. I can run the whole query next issue. Meanwhile, if you know a lot about Prime Movers releases, please write us by way of the following Web page
www.geocities.com/nemsbook/naty.htm
Perhaps you can help this fellow out.
Shortly before e-mailing this issue, I got just enough sporting news to suspect that Terry Francona may be engaging in the Red Sox passion for leaving Pedro Martinez in too long against the Yankees. What are the Boston Red Sox about if not tradition? John McNamara and Don Zimmer would be proud.
Post-Last-Minute News Compiled by Alan Lewis
Bobby Cotoia
Remembered by Stephen L. Gilligan
"Very sad to hear about Bobby Cotoia. He was a wonderful musician, with just the right amount of taste and adventure, and will be sorely missed.
"We [The Stompers] played with Beaver Brown so many times I'd need many hands and feet to count them all, from Stephen King-hosted shows in Maine to the Stone Pony and Fast Lane in Asbury Park and many, many bars and colleges in between. We would sometimes go out to eat after the shows, staying up and talking music and road tales until close to dawn in various diners or bars.
"Their show was based on energy and dynamics, and Bobby knew exactly when and how to bring the crowd down in order to get them ready to go back up again. It's funny, life goes by so fast. I haven't thought about those times in quite a while, being so caught up with the here and
Stephen L. Gilligan, E-Mail Message, September 20, 2004
2004 Boston Folk Festival
Festively Overcoming a Deluge
For the past two years, Scott Alarik has not covered the Newport Folk Festival for the Boston Globe. This has been impossible to understand. For folk reviews, he's the best the Globe has.
Boston Globe live music review
This is in addition to a recent feature about small folk clubs - a piece that also focused on Cambridge folk/blues guy Chris Smither - and another about community coffeehouses which additionally covers singer/comic Vance Gilbert (see item below).
In the intro to his notice of this year's event, Alarik wrote, "No regional festival pampers the palettes of local folk gourmands better than the Boston Folk Festival, with performances from local pub band the Resophonics to Symphony Hall-level fiddle sensation Natalie MacMaster. Perhaps that's why the mood remained so determinedly chipper Saturday, as drenching rains and a last-minute decision to move the event indoors caused delays, schedule confusion, and technical glitches. The festival staff and volunteers worked wonderfully, even moving the entire main-stage sound system in midafternoon, when a larger ballroom became available."
Speaking of that same phenomenon in his Boston Herald review, Daniel Gewertz wrote, "Many festivals hope for miraculous moments that transcend ordinary concerts. On Saturday, due to sheer logistics, every moment of the Boston Folk Festival was a tiny miracle."
Boston Herald music review
Jake Brennan and the Confidence Men
in the "Cellars by Starlight" Column
The Boston Phoenix's "Cellars by Starlight" column is not to be missed when it's written by Ted Drozdowski, as it is this week. So the current issue's column provides the double treat of a terrific writer covering an equally terrific subject, Jake Brennan and the Confidence Men.
Speaking of Jake Brennan, Drozdowski said, "He writes spare lyrics that ring true, lyrics set to riffs that resonate like classics, numbers that blast out of both rock's past and its future - and straight out of his heart."
Boston Phoenix column
I didn't find a single, representative passage to quote from Sarah Tomlinson's review in Friday's Boston Globe.
Boston Globe record review
It's short, though, and it wouldn't take at all long for you to check it out for yourself at the address provided just above.
Meanwhile, we have a review copy of the Jake Brennan album speeding its way here; so you'll be hearing more from us on this subject.
Pixies, Mission of Burma
Show Added at Tsongas Arena
Here's how the Boston Herald reported the news of this added Tsongas Arena concert in Thursday's paper:
"The Pixies, Mission of Burma, and the Bennies, Dec. 2, Tsongas Arena, Lowell. Tickets, $35.50, go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster outlets, 617-931-2000 and ticketmaster.com"
Boston Herald item
If you're looking to get tickets, better start early.
The Score
At the All Asia Tonight
"My [Stephen Gilligan's] new band The Score . . . will be playing at the All Asia this coming Saturday (tonight), September 25th from 7-10pm. I'm sure Jon [Macey] will email you about it too. We've been in the studio and have five songs in the can with more to come shortly. Barry Marshall is co-producing with us, and all I can say is, wow!! Jon and Michael Roy are really fabulous songwriters."
Stephen L. Gilligan, E-Mail Message, September 20, 2004
Balloon Reunion
Tonight at the Hudson Mass. Elks Ballroom
"Between 1977 and 1980, Balloon was one of the most prominent rock bands in the New England scene. With several full length live concerts broadcast on mainstream FM commercial radio and several regional hits under their belt, Balloon filled clubs throughout the Northeast. Balloon's two biggest hits, 'Listen to the Rock' and 'East Coast, West Coast' were in regular rotation on both WBCN and WCOZ for eleven weeks throughout the band's three-year reign.
"Charlie [Farren] took a hiatus from Balloon to join up with Aerosmith's Joe Perry in The Joe Perry Project, who included both Balloon hits on the JPP 1981 Columbia release, I've Got the Rock and Rolls Again. The hiatus ends this Saturday!
"Charlie Farren News," September 22, 2004
Patti Casey with Paul Asbell
and Their New Album
Just an Old Sweet Song
Patti Casey with Paul Asbell
The new album of 1930s and 1940s standards from multi award-winning vocalist/songwriter Patti Casey, with the incomparable Paul Asbell on guitar.
I was a huge fan of Paul Asbell's 1970s band, Vermont's Kilimanjaro. - A.L.
Community Coffeehouses, Vance Gilbert
Stagecraft That Is More Casual But No Less Professional
Scott Alarik had a great feature in the Calendar section of Thursday's Boston Globe about community, often church-based (but secular in nature) coffeehouses. That same piece gives a good deal of ink to singer-songwriter and renowned comic Vance Gilbert.
Boston Globe feature
Alarik wrote, "Gilbert, who lives in Arlington, has built a successful national career around these small folk venues. He knows they demand a stagecraft that is more casual without being less professional, and he's a master at it. In Franklin, he hit the stage chatting about spending the afternoon at Arlington Town Day, making it clear this show was designed just for tonight, just for them. Yet when he sang, his soaring, jazz-tinted tenor was exquisitely disciplined. 'There are no airs, playing these suburban coffeehouses,' Gilbert said later. 'You're more on eye-level with these people, so your stagecraft has to be more real.'"
Tanya Donelly
Songs Inspired by Conversations
Christopher John Treacy contributed a short feature about Tanya Donelly to this week's Hartford Advocate.
Hartford Advocate feature
For some reason, in that article's illustration, Donelly is painted yellow. Very, very yellow. A yellow tint has been added to her publicity photos before. We have even posted one.
So, Gold Tanya told Treacy, "'The inspiration for these songs came mainly from conversations, but I often get my ideas from reading and visual art," citing reality-bending author Jeanette Winterson, Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe, and painter Frida Khalo as random sources of creative energy. Donelly's acknowledgement of being hypnagogic (a state between sleep and waking when some people experience hallucinations) partially explains her knack for weaving dream-states through reality in her songs."
Rippopotamus Reunion
at the Harpoon Brewery's October Fest
"Please pardon the intrusion! But the Rippo Boyz [members of Rippopotamus] are pleased to announce a special reunion show at this years Harpoon October Fest! We are dusting off all the Rippo Classics and looking forward to Tearin' the Roof off the big 'ol Harpoon Tent. Please join us for a Funky Good Time!
"The show is 21+ as beer is served and encouraged! For more details about October Fest, please visit http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/.
Richard Gordon, "A Rippo Reunion," September 20, 2004
The Charms
Written Up in the Ithaca Times
"There is a great story about The Charms in this week's Ithaca Times. Here is the opening paragraph:
"'It is a rare thing for any career to magically take flight. We sweat and work hard each day only to find ourselves slightly better off tomorrow. The same is true in the world of music. For the most part, nothing ever seems to go right in a band's world of business. But once in a very great while, a band will jump up on stage and blow everybody away. In this case, the band with the miraculous rise to underground stardom is The Charms.'"
"The Charms Added to Muffs Show Sunday Night," September 24, 2004
carla ryder band
Carla Ryder enjoyed success during a six-year tenure fronting the popular Boston-area band, the Mudhens, before starting out on her own. Since then evidently she has moved back and forth between often solo coffeehouse gigs, on the one hand, and rocking out with a group, on the other. These days, her Carla Ryder Band seems to have solidified nicely.
Much of the music on the new Til the End of Counting could be characterized as folk-rock, and at times it's country tinged. Numbers with the biggest beat trace back to the mainstream rock of the post-Connie Francis, pre-psychedelic mid-1960s. Occasionally, though, Ryder's lyrics are a little less direct, giving her songs a more modern feel. The writing is quite good and at times excellent. The lively, full, and crisp production by Adam Steinberg, featuring prominent guitar and percussion, could be his best since his fantastic work on Squash by Todd Thibaud.
It's easy to imagine at least four tracks from this album receiving heavy radio play, including the opener, "House of Yesterday," a guitar rocker that starts with a crash of drums and has words such as
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We got sublime conversation, a new revelation Every time you get a bright idea. So we look for redemption or some hidden exemption In a booth over a bottle of beer. |
Ryder's vocal sound thins out and fattens up in interesting ways. Her singing shows good flexibility on grace notes and vocal runs, such as on the second song (and a personal favorite), "Three Mondays Gone," a softer, sweetly sung original about loss and separation. Throughout the album, though, both Ryder's voice and her composing show flexibility in a different way. She doesn't sound like any of the most common artists of reference. Instead, in one passage she might seem to be a bit like Reba McEntire, while in another she may have us imagining a sister of the Everly Brothers. More than once, she made me think of a female Bobby Fuller (of "I Fought the Law" fame). But Ryder particularly brought to mind the all-women mid-1960s Boston band, the Pandoras.* Today's national public wouldn't likely get the reference, but many of our own readers are quite familiar with that popular '60s quartet.
On a couple cuts, such as the guitar-riff powered "She Don't Have the Heart," the Carla Ryder Band is reminiscent of British Invasion rockers of the Everly Brothers school. When one reads the lyrics, with lines such as
|
You can always tell the ones she didn't need You can always tell the ones that set her free |
the words seem incomplete. But when performed by Ryder and her group, the music fleshes out the meaning, as it should. Toward the end of the song, the band brings the sound level down, creating the opportunity for a crackling exchange between lead and backing vocals. Experienced listeners are likely to crank up the volume.
Til the End of Counting is my introduction to the Carla Ryder Band, and I'm coming back for more.
* The terrific 1960s mainstream rock band out of Boston, The Pandoras, is not to be confused with the later West Coast garage-rock outfit of the same name.
| Copyright © 2004 by Alan Lewis. |
| All rights reserved. |
| Used with permission. |
Dick Waterman
and His Book, "Between Midnight and Day"
Daniel Gewertz has an outstanding feature in Friday's Boston Herald about blues promoter and ex-Bostonian Dick Waterman.
Boston Herald feature
Here is part of his profile of Waterman: "The Plymouth native first gained his reputation in the '60s as the man who 'rediscovered' Son House and as the founder of Avalon Productions, the first booking agency devoted exclusively to the blues. As the manager of such legends as Skip James, John Hurt, Booker White, and Mance Lipscomb, he allowed the first-generation blues artists to sustain their comebacks and earn a good living."
The main reason Waterman is back in the local news is that he has a new book out, Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive (Thunder's Mouth Press). Speaking of that volume, Gewertz wrote, "The book presents 100 new, often revealing looks at legends as diverse as Furry Lewis, Chuck Berry, Janis Joplin, and Sleepy John Estes. It also frames the art with hilariously honest, poignantly detailed anecdotes from Waterman's 20-plus years as a blues booking agent and manager."
There's lots more. Why not check it out in the Boston Herald?
The Brass Ball
Waterbury, CT Local Music Fest
If you're interested in the rescheduled Brass Ball, a local music festival in Waterbury, Connecticut, then you'll want to check out Dan Barry's "Local Motion" in this week's Hartford Advocate.
Hartford Advocate column
He got a chance preview of the festival, and he's got an idea what the audience will be in for. Whether the show will happen on Saturday or Sunday was unknown at the time of his deadline, so he referred readers to the following address
www.thebrassball.tk
for the schedule.
Small Suburban Folk Nightclubs
Such as Capo's in Lowell, Mass.
"The ground is shifting in the local folk scene," wrote Scott Alarik of the Boston Globe. "The concert market is clearly shrinking, with fewer artists able to pack Sanders, the Somerville Theatre, and other large venues. At the same time, a rising national wave of folk nightclubs, such as Capo's in Lowell, is offering fans a new way to combine the classy comfort of the concert hall with the homey intimacy of the coffeehouse."
Boston Globe feature
Here in Brattleboro, Vermont, we have a new, large (for us) concert room, to be called The Church (connected with West Street Arts), going in sometime in the next few months. It will be interesting to see how that establishment will fare in light of the trend toward smaller venues that Alarik has described.
We just got added to The Church's mailing list.
Paul Murphy Remembered
at a Memorial Benefit in Providence
On Sunday, the 10th Anniversary Paul Murphy Memorial Benefit will run from 5 p.m. until closing at the Hi-Hat, Davol Square, Providence. The suggested donation is $10. That information came from Bob Gulla's column in this week's Providence Phoenix.
Providence Phoenix column
Here's the lead-in to Gulla's column:
"Back in the '70s and '80s, the blues/R&B scene around here was really roaring, and people looked on Rhode Island's musical ambassadors with awe and admiration. At the time, Paul Murphy, an accomplished guitar player, was at the epicenter of that scene, having churned out hot licks for such outfits as the James Montgomery Band, Duke Robillard, Greg Abate & Channel One, and his own group, the Groovemasters. With the 'Masters, a rollicking R&B outfit he formed with frontman Dennis McCarthy, Murphy really hit his stride, leaning on his versatile background in a spectrum of genres and pulling off some of his tastiest playing."
Darien Brahms
and Her New Two-Song CD
"I [Darien Brahms] am writing to announce the release of my two-song CD, Cracker Jack. The title song and song number two, 'too late for whitey,' are, shall we say, political in nature - inspired by my complete and utter frustration with the current administration. Since election day is coming on November 2nd and since it is too late to contribute directly to the Kerry campaign, I have decided to donate one dollar from every sale to that amazing alternative media source, MoveOn.org. CDs are $5.99 (super affordable) and are available at all bullmoose music stores in Maine or email me through my website at www.darienbrahms.com
"Also, I will be playing a benefit for MoveOn.pac at the st. lawrence performing arts center on Oct.6th, 7pm with the band Swing Vote. I hope you can make it!"
Darien Brahms, "CD To Benefit MoveOn.org," September 22, 2004
the weepies
The group, The Weepies, is a collaboration of songwriters Deb Talan and Steve Tannen. Happiness, their album's title, is quite opposite the duo's name; and perhaps some pairing of opposites is light-heartedly suggested, too, by the cover illustration: salt and pepper shakers.
Happiness, though featuring good variety, is on the softer side of contemporary music and seems most like Talan's solo work. Tannen is more apt to give a performance a harder edge, both live and on record, even rocking out with "Sing Me to Sleep" on his debut CD. Yet he had a hand in writing six of these eight Weepies songs.
Talan's upbeat, folky, bass-powered title track, which opens the album, could have a solid run on AAA radio. "Vegas Baby" is a light folk-rocker spiced by hand-drumming, with tasteful leads and fills from Jim Henry's dobro - which is even more potent live. The lovely closer, "Keep It There," is reminiscent of the Maine folk/harmony group, Devonsquare. The big surprise is "Dating a Porn Star," an improbably pretty, waltzing lament which begins with
|
Dating a porn star isn't all roses She leaves you home on a Saturday night. |
Fair warning.
Deb Talan and Steve Tannen, in their Weepies guise, are at Club Passim for two shows tonight (the first has been sold out for some time) and one tomorrow night.
| Copyright © 2004 by Alan Lewis. |
| All rights reserved. |
| Used with permission. |
Matt Newberg and the Hurricane
and the New "Buffalo" CD
Matt Newberg and the Hurricane has a new album, Buffalo. In this week's Portland Phoenix, "Beat Report" columnist Sam Pfeifle wrote, "Newberg pulled out all the
Portland Phoenix column
Return of the Galaxy Rangers
The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers was a fantastic animated television series back in 1986. If you're a fan, as I am, you may find this MediasharX interview with creator Robert Mandell to be quite amazing.
Robert Mandell interview
I certainly did.
Among much else, Mandell says he's looking to make a new Galaxy Rangers movie which he imagines will feature the characters, Shane Gooseman and Niko. I'm ready.
Back in the 1980s, whenever I was around kids, I used to whistle the Galaxy Rangers opening and closing theme songs to see which heads turned. There were always a few that did.
Brief Items
"In case you haven't heard already, Waltham the band has recently signed a deal with Rykodisc. So
"Waltham in Waltham Plus News," September 23, 2004
This past week, "Local Motion" columnist Thomas Pizzola heard a show featuring rock and country musician Brian MacDonald and keyboard player Rex Havoc.
Hartford Advocate column
Pizzola said, "MacDonald played effortlessly through two gigantic sets of originals and covers. MacDonald's voice is consuming - it's full and resonant, and wraps around you like a favorite sweatshirt. His lyrics sound simple, but the levity of his voice and delivery reveals layers of careful songcraft."
"Want to watch a Three Day Threshold show in the privacy of your own home? You can either a) invite us over for some whiskey drinkin', or a much safer option would be b) to buy our new DVD! 6 dollars (American) will buy you a new 3DT DVD. Recorded live at Café Scat in Somerville, it's not just a show, it's a documentary on the things that go through our head during a typical performance."
Three Day Threshold, "Early Show Tonight," September 21, 2004
"About Jon Nolan's new record: When the Summers Lasted Long is now mixed! Paul Q. Kolderie mixed the album. Paul has worked with Radiohead, Morphine, and Uncle Tupelo among many, many others. In other words, this is good news."
Billy Beard, "Toad Listings October 2004," September 20, 2004
Speaking of Vermonter Sean Hutton, Seven Days music editor Casey Rea said in the current issue, "His band, Raquel's Boys, has cornered the local market on old-fashioned, sunshiney rock 'n' roll," then throwing in, "not that there's much competition."
This is from an item that I missed in last week's paper, and I'm sorry to say it's no longer available online. Sorry.
If you're interested in The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks, then you'll want to read Alan Bisbort's capsule review of the recent reissue in this week's Hartford Advocate.
Hartford Advocate record review
Tom Kielty contributed an interesting article to Friday's Boston Globe about Boston Blues Festival founder Greg Sarni.
Boston Globe feature
I didn't find a single, illustrative passage to quote here; nonetheless, this is a worthwhile article on an important topic.
We have linked to several news items about the Western Massachusetts band, Melodram. For an update on that group, check out the "Nightcrawler" column by Gary Carra in this week's Valley Advocate.
Valley Advocate column
The River City Rebels received a rather unusual testimonial in this week's Seven Days: "Their ballsy swagger and dirtbag romanticism are winning them a loyal following."
www.sevendaysvt.com/m.clubs.html
I'm betting music editor Casey Rea had fun writing that.
Brief Items Compiled by Alan Lewis
Rest in Peace
Ellis L. Marsalis, Sr., 96, grandfather of jazz musicians Branford, Delfeayo, Jason, and Wynton Marsalis.
Boston Globe obituary
Skeeter Davis, 72
We were saddened when we heard on the radio news about the passing of Skeeter Davis from breast cancer at the age of 72. We have since learned that she had battled breast cancer for nearly a decade and a half.
She was the only member of the Davis Sisters who was in both lineups of that duo, and she was the only one who was not actually a Davis sister. Her birth name was Mary Frances Penick.
Boston Globe obituary
The Davis Sisters group was among the acts of the early 1950s which tried to make a kind of hillbilly music that would appeal to teenagers. Country rockers - even those who never heard of the Davis Sisters - owe that duo a considerable debt. Scoring a 1953 hit with "I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know," the group appeared to be headed for the top, when Betty Jack Davis died in an automobile accident. A second lineup kept the flame alive and helped pave the way for the Everly Brothers and, one might guess, Elvis Presley.
As a solo artist, Skeeter Davis is so well remembered for one hit, "The End of the World"
|
Don't they know it's the end of the world It ended when I lost your love |
that it's hard to get a proper sense of her place in the world of popular music. "The End of the World" was a hit in several genres, including reaching the number four position on the rhythm and blues charts. Davis had chart success with other songs, notably including "(I Can't Help You) I'm Falling Too" in 1960. In 1964, she had a hit with her cover of Teresa Brewer's "Gonna Get Along Without You Now." I've never found a source on this; but the way I remember it, "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" was also a song the Davis Sisters performed about a decade earlier. I recall girls in Milo, Maine singing that song in the 1950s, and it seems to me they learned it from a Davis Sisters record.
For some reason, reggae fans took a shine to Skeeter Davis; and I remember a time when she was a prized and, I think, frequent performer at reggae festivals. She is of some special regional interest for an album recorded with NRBQ, She Sings, They Play. In fact, her third marriage was to NRBQ bassist Joey Spampinato.
In the early 1970s, I recall reading with puzzlement in Rolling Stone that the Grand Ole Opry suspended Davis because she had protested the arrest of Jesus freaks in Nashville. It was a strange little incident in Opry history. Evidently Davis greatly regretted being off the Opry stage for a year; but in a way, this incident was a feather in her cap. It was a high-profile example of those things that set her apart. Skeeter Davis was no commonplace country singer.
Issue 2004:84
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